Just another foodie site

Main menu

Monthly Archives: November 2011

Cupcakes are a bit of a weakness of mine. I’m not a huge fan of cake as I often find it too dry and the icing:cake ratio not satisfying enough to make up for it. Cupcakes, with a much better 1:3 icing:cake ratio, are a perfect solution. Like a slice of cake but its it own world of deliciousness.

The problem comes when I’m offered a big selection like in the image to the left. Because cupcakes are made individually you can offer a much greater selection. Even if the only variation is in the icing, it makes a big difference.

Cupcakes are supposedly coming back into vogue these days. I was told by a friend at the Food Network that food is becoming the new pornography. I can understand that statement. Cupcakes are the new way of expressing skills in taste and presentation, its classy porn, and a great secret indulgence.

I don’t cook a lot in the way of cakes myself, preferring to cook more than to bake. But this trend cannot be ignored and I love the attention to detail I can give each individual serve. A skill here is to be learnt! My partner is very good at cake decorating so I have a decent teacher, and we both have a sweet tooth that multiple experimenting will satisfy. I have high hopes for some great creations to make their way here.

One of the highlights that stood out from the food sampled at MasterChef Live were the dishes from Smiths Of Smithfield.

Here you can see the “Chocolate Pot, Marshmallow Cream and Honeycombe”. It was amazing, the chocolate was so smooth it was like eating the insides from a Lindt chocolate but less of a goo. It was a very silken experience. The marshmallow cream on top lessened the chocolate smack just nicely and the honeycombe provided perfect texture to accompany the full spoon.

In the background you can see me getting into some “Slow Roast Pork Belly, Green sauce

and Mash”. I was initially worried about how to tackle this dish with the flimsy plastic cutlery provided but I shouldn’t have as the meat was so tender and juicy I could gently pull it apart into nice mouthfuls. It went great with the green herb sauce of parsley and basil, with just a turn of vinegar to it to make it excite the tongue. Most awesomely with this dish was the free recipe card that came with it. I will definitely be making the green sauce myself at for some grilled chicken and will probably twist it with some mint as I think it would be brilliant on some lamb cutlets as well.

Welcome, firstly, this is a new blog I have set up as an enthusiast of good food. My name is Justin and I’ve been cooking since I was 5 years old. I love it! Although I haven’t made a career from cooking I still keep it as one of my favourite interests. Cooking, eating, watching, tasting, experimenting and best of all enjoying it.

I’m planning to use this space to share some of the great things that I discover and create. Yesterday, for example, I took to adventuring the MasterChef Live event here in London which has really picked up in popularity. The stalls were great and I was able to pick up some tasty treats for myself. The number of restaurants was less than normal but the food was definitely not subject to the same short falling.

Stick around as you are sure to hear more and more as the blog progresses